New Warehouse art museum names curator

Milwaukee art collectors Jan Serr and John Shannon opened their own museum in December, called The Warehouse, at 1635 W. St. Paul Ave. on a strip in the Menomonee Valley that has been seeing a lot of development lately, including a furniture store, a craft brewery, office space and more.

The 4,000-square foot museum, which is free and open to the public, occupies space in a previously vacant five-story factory building erected in 1924.

The first show at the museum, called "Concentrations," includes 70 artworks from the duo's own collection, including works by Henri Matisse, David Hockney, Keith Haring, Sally Mann and others. It closes on Feb. 8.

Serr and Shannon also announced today that Laura Sims Peck has been hired as curator at the museum. Peck previously worked as curator and manager of the UWM Union Art Gallery.

"It is a tremendous honor to join The Warehouse in this role at this formative time," Peck said in a statement.

"We are creating exhibitions and events, and also operating procedures and communication portals so we might best reach our audience. The Warehouse collection is available for scholars, students, and art lovers, and works are available for institutional loans. Admission to the Warehouse is free and by appointment."

Serr and Shannon (pictured above) have a collection that contains more than 3,600 works of art and they are active in local arts organizations. Shannon bought the St. Paul Avenue building in 2014, where he opened Guardian Fine Art Services which stores and protects artwork. That business continues to occupy space in the building.

"We see The Warehouse as a new arts hub for Milwaukee and Wisconsin," Shannon said in the statement today. "We look forward to hosting shows from our collection and of works of significant artists, as well as hold events that will benefit the arts community and arts lovers."

Upcoming events at The Warehouse include performances of Wild Space Dance Company's "Making/Unmaking," from Feb. 21 to 24, and the exhibit, "On Belonging," a collaboration between artist Nirmal Raja and photographer Lois Bielefeld that explores identity, place and belonging, from March 8 to May 31.

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